Deception
by South.for.Winter
Summary: While searching Neverland for Henry, the group quickly realizes that there's an enemy in their ranks. It seems that those originally thought to be helping in their search are actually looking for ways to divide them. Meanwhile, back in our world, the search for Storybrooke has begun and it's a race to see who will find it first.
1. Chapter 1

**I couldn't resist writing another story that takes off from the season finale and spins in a completely different direction. This particular one will eventually become Evil Charming, but there will be a lot of other character interaction as well. It probably won't make a whole lot of sense in the beginning, but everything will be explained, so hold tight.**

**I'd love to hear thoughts, and whether or not I should put more time into this one. Thanks, and enjoy!**

**Deception**

Emma knocked Hook's offered hand away and pulled herself up off the deck of the ship. "Why does going through a portal always have to be such a violent experience?" she asked no one in particular, brushing a hand through her hair in annoyance.

Regina rolled her eyes while Gold answered her question. "Well, you didn't think it was going to be easy now, did you, dearie? We're moving through different worlds – ripping holes through space. It's not exactly a walk in the park."

Emma thought about making a smart-ass comment about that being a poor comparison since he walked with a cane, but decided it was best to keep it in. He was helping them after all – something she was still having a hard time believing. It had been a very quick change of heart.

When she caught sight of where they were, however, she pushed all thoughts of Gold aside. Passing where her father was helping Snow to her feet, Emma went straight to the side of the ship. "This is Neverland?"

"Not very pretty, is it?" Hook asked, moving to her side.

It was a dark world. The water below moved turbulently and if she didn't know better, Emma would think it was threatening them with what waited below; whatever that may be. She shivered involuntarily. The land off in the distance didn't look much better. It was dark and dancing with shadows, but Emma couldn't find a source of light that would be causing them.

As if knowing what she were thinking, Hook spoke again. "It's a form of punishment here in Neverland. If you don't follow the rules laid down by the Shadow, or if you do something he doesn't like, he separates you from your own shadow."

Regina stepped forward then. "It's a very unpleasant practice. One's shadow is rather like a piece of your soul, and being ripped from it is an extremely painful process. No one is the same after it has been done."

Gold raised his eyebrow at her and Hook looked slightly surprised, but Emma wasn't paying attention to them.

"Jesus, Regina! Henry's out there."

Snow stepped forward hesitantly. "I'm sure he'll be alright, Emma. They wouldn't have brought him here unless they had a reason. I'm sure they wouldn't do anything to hurt him."

"Not right away, at least," David said.

"David!" Snow snapped, looking at him incredulously.

Regina gave him a sharp look and Emma's mouth opened like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words. She couldn't believe he'd say something like that.

"I just mean," he amended quickly, "we should hurry. They wouldn't hurt him right after bringing him here, so we still have some time to get to him before anything happens."

"Yeah," Emma muttered, shoving her hands into her pockets. She made eye contact with Snow who tried to give her a reassuring nod, but Emma could tell she was just as unconvinced as she was.

Regina cleared her throat. "He's right. The sooner we find him, the better. We're wasting time even talking about it, though we can't do much of anything until we arrive." She looked pointedly at Hook who moved off, returning to steer the ship.

"Can we get out and push?" Emma mumbled in frustration. At this point, she felt like she could swim to land faster than they were moving. She looked to Regina, the one other person on board that should be just as terrified as she was, but Regina was unnaturally calm.

Now even more unsettled then she'd been before, Emma shifted uneasily on her feet. She'd always been a person of action, and not being able to do anything was killing her. The fact that Regina, the woman who'd always played the part of overprotective mother, was now standing calmly in the face of Henry's kidnapping was putting her on edge. "I'm going below deck," Emma said suddenly, turning on her heel. "Tell me when we're getting close."

Looking up at David, Snow gave him a pained look. "I'm going to go talk to her."

Expecting another argument about not wanting to push their daughter, Snow was surprised when David only nodded. She almost stumbled looking over her shoulder at him as she walked away; he wasn't even looking back. She quickly turned back around and frowned down at the ground in thought as she hurried after Emma.

Gold glanced at Hook and scoffed irritably. "I think I'll go below as well. Wouldn't want to upset the delicate balance, would we?"

David and Regina were alone now, and David turned away from Regina, heading to front of the ship. With their backs turned to Hook, Regina fell into step next to him, keeping only a short distance between them.

"What was that?" she hissed.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"You know very well what I mean! That comment back there almost gave you away. You're supposed to be concerned for Henry's safety."

"_Me_? What about _you_? You're the one who's supposed to be his mother, for god's sake. Instead you're spouting off knowledge about the Shadow."

"Because it's something I would know."

"You don't know that."

They stopped when they reached the bow of the ship and Regina turned to face David. "We're both just going to have to be more careful from now on." She tilted her head almost imperceptibly at Hook, who David now noticed was watching them with interest. There was no way the pirate captain could hear what they were saying from that distance, but he could certainly notice the oddity of Prince Charming and the Evil Queen having a private conversation.

"Agreed."

"Good. We shouldn't talk again until we're ashore and truly alone." With that she stormed off, looking offended, and after a second, David realized she was putting on an act. For his part, he glared after her with a mixture of hatred and disgust. It wasn't too far-reaching at the moment; she'd never made things easy for him and the current situation was giving her a big head.

So far, this mission was proving to be a challenge and he knew it was only going to get worse.

* * *

It was bright; unnaturally so. That was the first thing she noticed as she slowly opened her eyes. Everything felt sore, so she didn't move at first. She was lying on some sort of bed attached to a wall, though it wasn't very comfortable. The wall next to her was smooth, not like stone, more like some kind of plastic. She furrowed her brow in confusion. The ceiling above her was almost all lights and she squeezed her eyes shut again at their harshness and turned her head to the side.

"Regina?"

Her eyes snapped open once again and she sat up quickly, grimacing at the pain that shot through her body at the movement.

"David?"

The fourth wall of what she now recognized to be some state of the art cell was made of clear hard plastic and she could see directly across a hall was an exact copy of the same cell, containing Prince Charming.

She put her hands up and gripped her head at the throbbing that had settled in.

"The pain will go away in a few minutes," David told her. "I think it's an after-effect of the drugs they used to knock us out."

Regina noticed now that both of their clothing had been replaced by white jumpsuits and she stood, pulling at the fabric before walking up to the clear wall and peering as far down the hallway both directions as her containment would allow.

"It looks like it's just more cells," David told her, "but as far as I can tell, they're all empty. We're the only ones here."

Regina huffed out an irritated breath. "I can see that, thank you." She placed her hands on her hips and looked at him across the hall. "Where are we?" she demanded.

David smiled in dark amusement. "You think I know? I only woke up a few minutes ago myself."

The sound of a door opening somewhere off in the distance had him up on his feet, moving to stand at the wall just across from Regina, only separated by the four feet of hallway between the cells.

Footsteps echoed through the eerily sterile environment and David thought he saw a flash of fear in Regina's eyes before her cold mask slipped back into place. He couldn't blame her; he was terrified.

"You're awake!" A man said, finally stepping into view of both of them. He was short with a full head of thick light brown hair, green eyes, and a smile that could make anyone nervous. "It's about time. We were worried we may have given you too large a dose; wouldn't want to kill you so early on. It'd be a shame not to learn as much about you as we can first."

Regina pulled her head back a bit, the only detectable change in her demeanor, but James slammed his fist against the clear wall. There was a light thud, but the wall didn't even vibrate.

"Why are we here?! What do you want with us?"

"We just want information. Information only your kind can provide us."

"Our _kind_?" David spat. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know. Magical folk. People not of this world." He smiled at them both in turn. "I think this will prove to be a very interesting study."

Regina raised her eyes to meet the stranger's, and her cold gaze met his equally indifferent one. "Who are you?"

"Who we are is not important. Not to you, at least. All you need to know is that we're in control here. It would be best for you if you were to cooperate. You're not in Storybrooke anymore." He nodded at both of them before turning to leave. "I'll be back later."

"If we're not in Storybrooke, then where are we?" David called after him.

"Very, very far away and nowhere you've ever been before," was the man's amused answer. Faint sounds of laughter echoed back to them before they heard the door close behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Off to work now, so I'm in a rush, but I can tell you that Back to the Beginning will be updated tomorrow.**

Snow closed the door softly behind her. "We're going to find him, Emma. I promise."

Emma was sitting on the floor with her back resting against the wall behind her, her head tilted back and eyes closed. When she heard her mother's voice, she lifted it and looked at her. "I just don't understand why things like this keep happening. Does it ever get any easier? I mean, I was living my life in Boston, and then suddenly the son I gave up for adoption ten years earlier is at my door, dragging me into his life, telling me about fairytales. I broke the curse, I did what I was supposed to do, and then we ended up in the Enchanted Forest, and we barely managed to make it back home. We finally started living like families are supposed to and then Storybrooke was threatened and we all thought we were going to die. It's not fair that we stopped it just in time to have them take him from us."

Snow nodded, afraid to say anything in case it kept Emma from continuing. Her daughter was not one to share her feelings easily, but it seemed that the dam had finally broken on this subject, and she knew that Emma needed to get it off her chest. It was a heavy weight to be carrying, and they had a rough road ahead of them.

"I can't believe he's not here," Emma practically whispered. "And that almost a year ago, I didn't even know him. Now I can't imagine my life without him."

Swallowing back her own tears, Snow lowered herself to the ground next to her daughter. She knew what that felt like; while it seemed that no time had passed for her or David, Emma had grown up and they'd missed her entire childhood. But they could be here for her now.

"You don't have to imagine that, Emma. We're going to get off this ship soon, and Greg and Tamara won't know what hit them. They're not expecting anyone to have followed them, so we have the advantage."

"It's not Greg and Tamara I'm worried about anymore," Emma said quietly. When she looked at her mother, there were traces of panic she couldn't quite hide showing clearly in her eyes. "What kind of person do you have to be for Mr. Gold to be afraid of you?"

Snow wanted to say something comforting, but she couldn't think of anything. Emma was right; what they were up against was much greater than Greg and Tamara now. They would need their whole family, and as terrible as Regina could be, at least she was on their side this time, and there wasn't anything she wouldn't do to save her son. Though both Regina and David had been acting oddly, she knew sometimes traveling by ship did strange things to people. As Snow leaned her head back against the wall along with her daughter, she hoped that whatever it was would be gone when they stepped foot on land.

* * *

When Regina opened her eyes again, it was dark. Not so dark that she couldn't see anything, but the amount of light had been drastically reduced. It was now coming from a small strip lining the bottom of the three solid walls of her cell, and instead of being white as it had been before, it was now tinted blue. She guessed that's how they indicated whether it was night or day. At least they were afforded that courtesy in this prison.

It had been more than a day since they were brought here, she was almost sure of it. Not long after the first man had left, a woman took his place, only instead of wanting to talk, she'd wanted to take them one at a time to a room where they were fingerprinted, pictures were taken and notes about height, weight and various other things were recorded.

She'd fallen asleep before they'd brought David back. Lingering drugs in her system wore her out more quickly and made her easily dizzy. She was still absorbing what had happened; her memory was foggy and she couldn't remember how in the world they'd managed to get themselves in this position in the first place.

One thing was clear; they were not guests here, they were prisoners. She had a sickening feeling that the first man hadn't just been trying to scare them when he said they'd make sure to squeeze out all the information they could before killing them. She had no doubt that they'd kill her, and she wondered just how long she could hold out. She'd die before she'd tell them anything they wanted to know about her world or Storybrooke, but that was the problem. How long would it take them to realize that she wasn't going to give them anything?

And what about Henry? She felt sick to her stomach when she thought about what would happen to him if these people found Storybrooke. At least she could comfort herself with the knowledge that he'd be protected by Emma, though the knowledge that that woman would get to raise him while she'd never see him again made her feel even more nauseous.

It had been a long time since Regina had experienced the kind of panic attack she could feel coming on now. When she was younger, she'd experienced them when her mother was being particularly controlling. Right after one of Cora's 'lessons', she would run back to the house and lock herself in her room, fighting for air through her tears and the crushing weight of living in that house with her mother, magic and very little hope of ever escaping. In fact, she didn't think she'd had an attack since her mother had disappeared through the mirror; not even when she'd returned to Storybrooke. At that thought, the growing feelings of panic increased, and she sat up, struggling for breath.

Why now, she wondered. She'd been through so many horrible things since then, and not once had she broken the way she was doing now. It was the feeling of being trapped again, and her mind brushed against those most recent memories of being tortured; strapped to the cold table while the bolts of painful electricity ripped through her body. A strangled cry escaped her at the thought.

"Regina, are you okay?"

David hadn't been able to fall asleep. He'd heard Regina's breathing become labored and erratic, and when he heard her cry out, he pulled himself from the bed and walked up to the window where he could now make out Regina's form, sitting up in her own bed, bent forward slightly at the waist.

She looked up at him, surprised by the sudden sound of another voice. She'd almost forgotten she wasn't alone and it was a relief. As undesirable a companion as he was, she wasn't alone in this hell.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light and he met her gaze, he was surprised by the panic he saw in her eyes. Regina had never been one to scare easily, try as one might. They'd brought armies and an entire kingdom against her and the woman had barely batted an eyelash. Now here she was in a small cell, apparently far away from home, and she was completely losing her cool not even twenty four hours after their capture. He didn't miss the shiny streaks that glinted underneath her eyes when she tilted her head up; she'd started to cry. In that moment, he almost wished he could go to her and comfort her. Despite having been enemies for the last few decades, he knew what she'd been through in just the last week alone, and now they were trapped here. Together.

Since he couldn't leave his own cell, he attempted to convey all of that comfort through his expression instead. Their eyes locked and Regina found herself regaining control. He seemed calm as he stood in front of the glass, and his blue eyes only showed momentary surprise before he relaxed back into simply looking at her. It was exactly what she needed; her breathing slowed and she finally managed to draw in air without gasping.

After it seemed that she'd calmed completely, David repeated his question. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she snapped, embarrassed that she'd lost control like that in his presence. But then she remembered that without that same presence, she'd most likely be in the throes of a full-blown panic attack right now. "Thank you," she managed quietly. It was sincere, and he nodded in acknowledgement.

"Goodnight." He padded silently back to his bed.

"Goodnight."


	3. Chapter 3

**Squeezing in a chapter again before work. Tonight's inventory, so I'd love some reviews to cheer me up when I'm done. :) ****You get a little more information on the captors in this one, though not much. Also, no Neverland, but we'll visit them again next chapter. Hope you enjoy, and I can't wait to read your reviews!**

David sighed heavily as he saw Regina wave her hand for about the fifth time since they'd woken up that morning. "You know that's not going to make a difference," he told her. "There's no magic outside of Storybrooke."

"You never know," she snapped at him. "It doesn't hurt to try. Just because they told us we're not in Storybrooke doesn't mean it's true. You should know better than anyone that people rarely tell the truth."

"Have you looked around recently?" David asked her, growing even more agitated. "Does this look like anything in Storybrooke to you? I may have been in a coma for twenty-eight years, but even I know that this looks like something out of a science fiction movie."

She rested her hand back at her side. "So what are you going to do? Just sit there and do nothing?"

"No, I'm going to wait until I know exactly what is going on, and then I'm going to figure out a way out of this situation."

"Good luck with that," she scoffed. She knew these people weren't going to give them anything to go on, and even if the security they'd seen yesterday was the only security in the building, they had very little chance of escaping without outside help.

"You know, we wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for you," he said harshly.

"Oh? And how do you figure that?"

"We wouldn't even be in this world if you hadn't cast your curse."

"Back to the curse again, are we? When are you people going to get over that?"

"Maybe when you stop trying to kill everyone!"

"Oh, that's rich! Especially right after I nearly died saving everyone!"

"From a device that _you_ brought! One that you were intending on using eventually yourself."

She sat back heavily, pressing her weight into the wall behind her. He wasn't wrong, but she hated that he'd used that against her. In the end, she really _had_ wanted to save everyone – not just for Henry, but for herself, as well. She hadn't wanted to die as the Evil Queen she'd become. Maybe a last-minute act of redemption could still save her. But it hadn't mattered, because she hadn't died, and now it seemed that her act of selflessness hadn't changed anything, anyway.

They both crossed their arms and David stared at her until she looked away. She was tired of seeing the judgment in his eyes.

* * *

Abby shivered and leaned back in her chair, holding her mug of coffee close as she kept her eyes on the screens in front of her.

"Cold?"

She looked over at Reid who was sitting in the chair next to her. "Yeah. I can't get used to it up here. I grew up in Southern California." She took a sip of the warm liquid and smiled lightly at the feeling. "What about you? Where are you from?"

"Not far from here, actually. Of course, I didn't know this place existed until I started working here. It was nice not to have to move around. I like being close to home."

"You have a family, right?"

"Wife and two kids," Reid smiled. "And now, I even get to see them on occasion."

Abby chuckled. She knew the hours here were pretty grueling, but for the most part, it was an easy job. They were both quiet again, attention fully back on the screens in front of them.

"They weren't like I thought they'd be," Abby said suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"They just seem so…human."

"Well, they aren't."

"But aren't they? I mean…kind of. They're human, they're just from another world." She slapped at Reid when he started to laugh at her. "Shut up! You know what I mean. They're exactly the same as you and I in every way except that they have magic where they're from."

"Careful. You know they warned us not to think that way. That's exactly why they're so dangerous; they look just like us, but they have the ability to change the world as we know it. They could destroy everything we love."

Abby shook her head. "It just doesn't seem like that's their intention. Hey, wait a minute; they're talking again." She leaned forward in her chair to adjust the volume on the screens, turning it up so they could clearly hear the conversation taking place in the cell block. At least, what had started out as a conversation.

"Great! They're arguing again," Reid complained. They listened as the pair bickered back and forth about their current situation. He sat back in his chair. "And they're not giving us anything."

"Well, we know Regina is the one that brought everyone here."

"Yeah, but we knew that before. We need new information. The boss is going to be mad if we don't bring him anything to help us find Storybrooke. This is so stupid!" he cried in frustration, slamming a fist on the console and making Abby jump. "We had them, but then it disappeared! They never should have sent Greg; they should have figured out that he was too focused on revenge to care about helping our cause."

"Yeah, but he had Tamara with him," Abby tried.

"Didn't help much, did it? We were supposed to be taking people who could help us figure out how magic worked so we could eliminate it for good, but instead, we're stuck trying to figure out how to get back into Storybrooke all over again. It's put us way behind schedule."

Abby was quiet for a moment. "I'm sure they'll say something soon. We'll figure out how to get back there."

"Not if they keep this up," Reid scoffed. "It figures they'd pick the two people who hated each other the most. They're never going to have a civil conversation!"

"I wouldn't say that." Both Abby and Reid jumped at the voice coming from behind them; neither of them had heard him enter the room.

"Dr. Valery!" Reid exclaimed as both he and Abby stumbled to their feet. "Sir. We didn't hear you come in."

Dr. Valery gave them both an appraising look. "Yes, I don't like to alert people to my presence. I like to hear what they say when they think no one is listening." He gave them a smile that looked more like a threat to the two guards.

Abby hid another shiver, though this one wasn't from the cold. She hadn't trusted Dr. Valery since the moment she'd met him; no one did, really. He was apparently very valuable to the operation, but she wished she never had to deal with him. Fortunately, the area she was posted in meant very little interaction with the man.

"So our two prisoners aren't cooperating, you say?" he asked.

"No, sir," Reid was quick to answer. "They're too busy arguing to ever talk about anything that matters."

"Well, we'll just have to change that, won't we?" Without further conversation, Dr. Valery strode out of the room, leaving the two guards to stare after him, wondering what he was going to do.

* * *

Regina and David were still giving each other the silent treatment; David while he continued to stare angrily at her and Regina while she continued to avoid his gaze. They both straightened and watched in apprehensive curiosity as they heard footsteps and the short man from the first day came into view.

He looked at both of them in turn. "You're not making this very easy," he told them, but rather than sounding annoyed, he sounded amused; he was enjoying this. He waved a finger at Regina, beckoning her to walk toward him. When she did, her door slid open and she planted her feet, not moving any closer.

"Now, now," he scolded, still smiling, "you don't want to offend me. Come along, Regina. You're going to help me get what I want." She stared at him. "Don't make me wait," he warned in a dangerous tone when she still didn't move.

Regina finally stepped out of her cell. From the hallway, she could see the guard standing behind the short man. With a simple hand motion from the man, the guard moved forward and unceremoniously slapped handcuffs on her, attaching a chain that he used to pull her along behind him. As the trio moved toward the door, Regina met David's startled gaze, and she couldn't fully hide the fear in her own.

She watched him until she couldn't see him anymore, nearly stumbling with the effort of looking over her shoulder.

"Keep up!" the guard snapped, not bothering to look behind him as he yanked the chain.

Regina tripped, and hurried to fall into step behind the guard before he could complain again.

She struggled to put her stoic mask back into place; she wouldn't let these strangers see that she was afraid of them. But it wasn't easy. One question played over and over in her mind: what were they going to do to her?


	4. Chapter 4

**This story has been quick to write so far, it's actually surprising. Just want to put a warning out there that this chapter has a little bit of torture in it, so it might be kind of upsetting. **

**Thanks for the reviews! Keep it up, they help motivate me. :)**

"We must be here," Snow said, suddenly sitting up.

"How do you know?" Emma asked, watching her in confusion.

"Because we've stopped moving."

Emma had been so buried in thought that she hadn't noticed that they'd indeed stopped moving. She braced herself against the wall as she stood, then reached a hand to Snow to pull her to her feet as well.

"Finally," Emma sighed, "we can do something. I hate being trapped."

Snow gave her daughter's shoulder a pat as she walked past, then followed her out of the small cabin and up onto the deck. They watched as Hook worked to secure the ship before they left it for land.

Regina and David made their way over from their different sections of the ship, and David looked at Emma. "Feeling better?"

Emma raised her eyebrows. "Do I feel _better_?"

Snow quickly stepped into David's side, resting a hand on his chest. "I think what he means to say, is that he's been concerned, and he's glad that we're finally here so that we can start looking for Henry. Right, David?" She looked up into his eyes.

He smiled and nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry it came out the way it did; I guess I'm just upset about Henry."

Regina caught the odd look that Snow and Emma shared when David wasn't looking, and narrowed her eyes.

Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, Gold appeared from below and moved toward them, his cane hitting the deck with a dull thump every time he took a step. "I see we've arrived."

Hook finished just as Gold spoke and joined them. "How very astute of you, crocodile."

Gold sneered at him and opened his mouth to retort but Emma stepped between them. "Stop! We don't have time for this!" She gestured to the land nearby. "Henry's out there somewhere waiting for us to find him, and that will never happen if we don't stop this petty bickering. We're here for Henry – that's it. So," she turned to Gold. "You seem to know something about the person who wants Henry. What do you think we should do?"

Gold looked around at everyone. "We need to make our way up there," he said, gesturing to a small mountain range. The way the trees and cliff faces came together, it resembled an eerie face. "Dead Man's Ridge. It's where the Shadow resides, and he's the one looking for Henry."

"I don't remember a Dead Man's Ridge in Peter Pan," Emma said, looking apprehensively at the mountain.

"Well, not everything is like it is in the stories, Dearie," he told her. "I thought you'd know that by now. And unlike the clever little names they come up with in your world, Dead Man's Ridge is named for what it truly is. Very few people come back once they go up – unless they work for Peter Pan, that is. We should stick together – these lands are a dangerous place and it would be better to face anything we might come across as a group."

"I disagree," Regina said. "For all we know, they haven't had a chance to take Henry there yet and he's still somewhere in the forest. If we split into two groups, we can cover more ground more quickly. Our first priority is finding Henry."

Only Snow caught the quick look that passed between her and David.

"Alright," Emma said. "I'm gonna have to go with Regina on this one. We need to find Henry before they get him to the Shadow, if it's at all possible. I'll go with Regina and Hook – since you know this place so well," she told the pirate captain. "And you guys can go with Gold," she said to her parents. "Because it seems like he might know his way around."

"Emma," Snow said quietly. She glanced between David and Regina, wondering if this wasn't exactly what Regina had wanted when she suggested they split up. But there was nothing she could say now under the scrutiny of the woman herself. "Let's get a move on," she said, changing directions.

It only took a few minutes for them to row to land and once they were out of the small raft, Snow stopped Emma from running full-steam-ahead into the forest. "We should have a plan to meet up," Snow told her. "Tonight, when it starts to grow dark. I really think it's a bad idea for us to stay split up when the sun goes down."

"Agreed," Emma nodded. "I just hope it doesn't take that long to find Henry."

"So do I," Snow said softly. "So how about you guys take the left, and we'll take right, and we meet in the middle tonight?"

"How will we find each other?" Emma asked.

"Easy," Snow smiled. "Just tell the birds, and they'll find me."

Emma shook her head. "Yeah, that's still weird. Okay…I guess we're ready, then." She motioned for Hook to lead the way.

When most of the group was ahead, Snow fell into step beside Emma. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I don't know," Emma told her honestly. "But at least this way, we're keeping them apart. That's best, isn't it?"

Snow shrugged, watching her husband. "I just don't understand what's going on with him. You didn't see that look between them earlier, Emma. It's like they're in on some big secret together."

"Well, we'll just have to keep our eye on them."

Snow nodded and squeezed Emma's arm. "Let's go find Henry."

* * *

"Thank you, Sean. You may leave us now."

Regina struggled against her new restraints; she was now strapped to a chair in a mostly empty room. The guard, Sean, nodded and she watched as he left the room before turning her attention back to the short man.

"Thank you for joining me, Regina." He smiled sickeningly.

"I didn't have a choice," she said coldly, maintaining her calm.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced," he said, ignoring her comment. "I'm Dr. Valery." As he spoke, he walked to a table nearby, picking up a few items that she couldn't see from her angle.

"Isn't that a woman's name?" Regina sneered. She was terrified, and the best way she knew to deal with her fear was to channel it into rage, as she'd always done. Never mind that it usually got her into a fair amount of trouble.

Rather than growing angry as she'd hoped, he smiled, but didn't look away from what he was doing. "You know, that's definitely not the first time I've heard that. I was teased often because of my height, my name…but there's something wonderful about having the other kids make fun of you when you're growing up; you become stronger because of it. I had to overcome the bullying and show everyone that I was so much more than just a name. And I did." He turned and Regina swallowed heavily when she caught a glimpse of what he was holding; a small, handheld taser. But she knew now that size made very little difference. Any kind of electrical current could cause immeasurable pain. Her eyes widened, and Valery didn't miss the reaction.

"I see you know what this is." He patted the device against his hand. "I'm glad. It's going to make this so much easier."

"I'm not going to tell you anything," she said viciously.

He shook his head in amusement. "Oh, my dear Regina, you don't understand. I don't want you to tell me anything yet. That's not why I brought you here today."

Regina looked thoroughly confused. "It isn't?"

"No, no. You only just arrived. There's no reason to be in so much of a rush. I think it would be nice to have a little time to get to know one another first, don't you?"

"I'd rather you just kill me." She didn't mean the words, of course, but she couldn't help herself. Appearing weak was the last thing she'd ever let happen, especially in front of this horrible man. They'd only been here for a day, and she could already tell that he was the one they were going to have to watch out for. He was far more dangerous than any of the others they'd met. He had a malicious air about him and, even more chilling, he took pleasure in causing them pain.

There were a lot of things that people of the Enchanted Forest could say about the Evil Queen, but of all the rumors, there was one that had never been true; Regina took no delight in doing the terrible things that she did. For her, it was all about the control. Fear kept them in line, and when they were afraid of her, she didn't have to worry about them turning against her.

This man was different. The pain is what he lived for, she could tell. She'd dealt with people like him before in her days as queen, and even then she hadn't enjoyed it. Now she was at the mercy of this man and she hated it. Which was why, right now, Regina wondered what this man could possibly want. If he hadn't brought her here to glean information about Storybrooke, why was he holding tools that could be used for torture? He seemed cruel, but even he wouldn't be so cruel as to torture her without reason.

Would he?

"You know, peoples' capacity for sympathy can really be quite astounding," Dr. Valery said, walking around her slowly. "Even between people with a great dislike for one another."

Regina scoffed at him. "Don't try to tell me you feel any kind of sympathy. You're the one who brought me here."

Ignoring her, he continued, "Relationships and trust can be built on shared experiences of pain or suffering. A good many friendships have started that way."

"I hope you're not thinking that _we_ will have any sort of friendship, because I can assure you it will never happen." Regina subtly pulled against her restraints, but it was no use; she was stuck here for the duration of this man's sick games, whatever it was he had in mind.

"It's quite interesting, actually. I've had the opportunity to see it in action on more than one occasion. The different types of people it has managed to bring together – it's _fascinating_. Some of them never would have associated otherwise, so you could say the work I do helps bring people together." He stopped walking and looked at her, smiling again. "Though it never ends well, so I suppose that takes all the goodness out of it." He moved so that he was standing directly in front of her. "No, I have no delusions about _our_ relationship, I can promise you that. I have no desire to have any kind of dealings with my subjects other than professional, as you'll soon come to see. Shall we begin, then?" he asked sweetly.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'll take your silence as a yes."

Without any further warning, he jabbed the taser into her side and pulled the trigger.

Unlike before with Greg, Regina immediately reacted to the pain. Crying out, she jerked away from the source as much as the restraints would allow, which wasn't much.

Valery laughed. "Yes, I thought you might react this way. You know the pain of electricity after your…" he leaned in to whisper in her ear, "recent experiences."

Hatred bubbled inside her as she shrunk in fear when he waved the taser in front of her face. After everything that had happened recently with Greg, she didn't think she could take anymore, and as much as she wanted to hide her fear from this man, she couldn't find the strength under these circumstances.

Even her thoughts of hatred disappeared at the next jolt of electricity was delivered to her other side. It seemed worse this time, and Regina found herself slipping back into the memories of being trapped back in Storybrooke; strapped down to the table and electrocuted right up to the point of death.

Valery straightened and set the taser back on the table, watching as Regina squirmed and cried even after there was no more pain. "You see, I know a thing or two about one's mental state after an experience such as yours. You just have to know which buttons to push and the post-traumatic stress does the rest." He moved to a panel on the wall and keyed in a code. An instant later, Sean reappeared, holding the handcuffs.

"You won't need those," Valery told him. "I doubt she even knows where she is at this point."

And he was right; Regina was a confused, crying mess. The only indication she gave that she was aware of anything at all was jumping at Sean's touch when he moved to release her from the restraints and pull her to her feet. She didn't even look at him before she was back to curling in on herself, whimpering and mumbling unintelligibly as he pulled her from the room.

It had taken Greg hours to break Regina Mills.

Valery had done it in less than ten minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

**I recently realized that between this and Back to the Beginning, I've neglected Behind Enemy Lines, so I'll be putting up a chapter for that one in a few days. Boop. Hope you guys are still hanging in there.**

David sat up quickly at the sound of a pair of footsteps. He knew immediately that something was up, because the second sound of footsteps more closely resembled someone being pulled along. It would have made sense if they were leaving the cell, but that wasn't the case. Regina should be happy to return and be free of that disgusting man that had visited them twice now.

The worry turned to fear as they finally came into view, and he got his first glimpse of a broken Regina. She looked nothing like she had when she'd been taken away. Yes, she'd looked fearful, but she still had fire in her eyes. They were now completely full of fear, jumping around the room as if looking for something that would attack her at any second. She was crying, and when the guard reached to uncuff her, she jumped and cried out as if she'd been electrocuted.

Oh, god.

David had no idea what exactly had happened, but he could now make out the name Owen in the mumblings of a terrified Regina, and it didn't take much for him to hazard a guess at the approach used to bring her to this breaking point.

"Hey!" he yelled, when the guard roughly shoved Regina back into her cell and secured the door. He found that he'd moved to the wall and was now leaning with his fists braced against it in anger.

In response, the guard only looked at him and smirked. He gave a little wave and David slammed his palms against the wall, furious that he could treat an obviously suffering woman with such disregard and be amused about it.

He heard the door shut, indicating the guard was finally gone, and he moved sideways against the wall, not breaking hand contact, until he was standing directly across from where Regina was piled on the floor in a heap. "Regina?" he called out softly, trying not to scare her. "Regina, can you hear me?"

He could only hear her crying in response.

* * *

Abby watched as Sean, a guard she'd always hated working with, shoved a barely aware Regina back into her cell. She had time to give Reid a quick glance before the door opened and Dr. Valery swept in.

Swallowing back his disgust, it was Reid who asked the question; "What did you do to her?" He managed to sound merely curious, as opposed to horrified, which is what he was currently feeling. Judging by the look that Abby had given him just before the doctor had walked in, she felt the same.

"I reminded her of a recent experience," he said simply.

"But why?" Abby asked. "What was the point? You weren't gone long enough to ask her any questions. Why torture her if you weren't planning on getting anything from her?"

"Oh, it wasn't for nothing, trust me." Valery smiled. "I know that these cells were designed very specifically for many different circumstances, and I'd like to utilize that now."

"What do you mean?" Reid asked.

"I want you to seal off the hallway and open up the doors to their cells."

Reid and Abby both turned to him in shock. No one had ever opened the doors between prisoners' cells before. Then again, they hadn't had two prisoners at once before; at least, not since either Reid or Abby had started working there.

"Are you both hard of hearing?" Valery snapped. "Open the doors."

Reid turned around and glanced at the control board. He'd been shown complete operations during his training, but he'd never actually used this function and it had been a while since his training. Finally, he found the right sequence, and managed to perform the task.

"Good," Valery said. "I have things I need to attend to, but I expect a full update on what's said in there." He pointed at the screens.

"Yes, sir," Reid nodded.

Valery disappeared again and Abby let out the breath she'd been holding. "He tortured her so that he could get David's sympathy," she said quietly, disgusted at the realization. "He wants to use her pain to get them to start talking."

"At least she has someone to comfort her," Reid tried.

Abby looked at the small containers of food that she and Reid had started in on before Valery had returned, and pushed hers away. "I'm not hungry anymore."

* * *

David didn't leave his place at the wall when he saw a similar one sliding into place in the hallway at the edges of his cell; they were being completely sealed off. He wondered why they thought they needed the extra security. It wasn't like he and Regina would be able to get out of their cells anyway.

But then the door slid open.

David pushed himself off the wall, but didn't move toward the now open door. Regina's had opened as well, and he couldn't quite bring himself to believe it.

After a moment of just staring, David carefully moved forward, afraid that if he moved too quickly, they'd close the doors again. He made it into the hallway, however, and from there, he hurried into Regina's cell, not wanting anyone to change their minds before he could make it to her.

She was still lying on the floor, crying, and he wondered how to approach her without scaring her. Finally realizing that it probably wasn't possible, he moved in slowly and as gently as he could, placed a hand on her shoulder. "Regina."

She jumped, and she raised her head to look at him, but he could tell that her eyes were looking past him, seeing something else.

"Regina," he tried again. He lowered himself to sit on the floor in front of her and when she didn't further acknowledge his presence, he lowered himself to lie next to her on the ground. "Regina, it's me. It's David. Do you know who I am?"

She looked at him briefly, but then squeezed her eyes shut. "David?" she whispered.

"Yes, it's me."

"Why?"

He furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean? Regina, do you know where you are?"

"Greg…" she started with a shaky voice, but David shook his head and reached out to touch her wrist before she could continue.

"No, Regina. Greg's not here."

She jumped at the contact and cringed, but when her eyes opened again, she seemed to focus on him, unlike before. "He's not?"

David noticed the marks circling her small wrist after her pained look and he pulled it gently between them so that he could smooth his thumbs over the nearly broken skin, trying to massage the pain away. The guard had made the cuffs far too tight. "No. Greg's gone. You and I were captured, though. We're in some kind of prison. Remember?"

Slowly, Regina began to nod. She watched David's fingers as he soothed the pain in her wrist, mesmerized by the small movements. The memories of the last day finally returned to her, and she closed her eyes again. She didn't want to remember any of it. She was angry that Dr. Valery had been able to break her so easily, and she was humiliated that she'd shown how weak she could be. When she opened them, she expected to see David's eyes full of pity, and she readied herself to snap at him that she didn't need it. But instead, she found he was focused entirely on her wrist, and instead of pity, he was frowning.

"Why would they do this?" he asked.

"What?"

"Torture you?" he explained, still not looking at her.

"I imagine they're hoping that I'll slip up and tell them something that would help them to get to the people in Storybrooke."

"But you weren't gone very long. Did he ask you anything?"

"I think it's more long-term than that," she told him. "He said he wanted to get to know me first." Her voice wavered on the words, and David paused his movements and finally looked up.

Again, there was no pity, only concern, and Regina suddenly realized the position they were in. David was still lying next to her on the floor of her cell, her hand grasped carefully in his, and with him looking at her that way, she felt self-conscious. This was not the mask of indifference she normally wore in front of him.

She sat up quickly, pulling her hand from his grasp, but the movement made her dizzy and she had to brace herself to keep from falling over again.

"Careful," David said, pushing himself to his feet. He wrapped his arms gently under hers and helped her to her feet. When she didn't fight him off, he knew that she was still suffering the after-effects of whatever had happened. He guided her back to her bed and set her down. "You should rest," he told her. "We need to start thinking about how we can get out of here, and you won't be much help until you've had some sleep."

"I already slept!" she said angrily, but she could already feel the pull of unconsciousness. Despite her statement, she allowed David to help her lie down on her bed.

"We've dealt with a lot of stress," he said as her eyes started to close. "It's alright to be tired. When you wake up, we can talk about how we'll get back home."

Regina wanted to argue further, but she felt David lift her other injured wrist and begin the same soothing patterns he'd traced on the first. As she drifted to sleep, her mind finally processed the fact that David was somehow in her cell. Her thoughts became a tired mass of jumbled confusion as she tried to decipher how that was possible, and she decided it had to be a dream. She felt the pain floating away as David's gentle fingers rubbed her wrist, and her final thought before falling asleep was that in place of the nightmares that had recently plagued her, at least it was finally a pleasant one.


End file.
